X-Git-Url: https://ncurses.scripts.mit.edu/?p=ncurses.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fhtml%2Fman%2Fncurses.3x.html;h=bda5c0ccd28e723041dc734a06c8b08fdb972581;hp=ddf5d2a05e5f2864829726d6771e60aad28027ad;hb=c0f109a299a82a33c16bd7af942a12ce9aefaaf0;hpb=84cf9f63bf604413fa5714ef91f83076ac8f236b diff --git a/doc/html/man/ncurses.3x.html b/doc/html/man/ncurses.3x.html index ddf5d2a0..bda5c0cc 100644 --- a/doc/html/man/ncurses.3x.html +++ b/doc/html/man/ncurses.3x.html @@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written * * authorization. * **************************************************************************** - * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.144 2020/02/02 23:34:34 tom Exp @ + * @Id: ncurses.3x,v 1.146 2020/03/14 23:13:18 tom Exp @ --> @@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ method of updating character screens with reasonable optimization. This implementation is "new curses" (ncurses) and is the approved replacement for 4.4BSD classic curses, which has been discontinued. - This describes ncurses version 6.2 (patch 20200215). + This describes ncurses version 6.2 (patch 20200314). The ncurses library emulates the curses library of System V Release 4 UNIX, and XPG4 (X/Open Portability Guide) curses (also known as XSI @@ -1277,28 +1277,37 @@ between the XSI Curses and ncurses calls) are described in PORTABILITY sections of the library man pages. + +
+ In many cases, X/Open Curses is vague about error conditions, omitting + some of the SVr4 documentation. + Unlike other implementations, this one checks parameters such as point- - ers to WINDOW structures to ensure they are not null. The main reason - for providing this behavior is to guard against programmer error. The - standard interface does not provide a way for the library to tell an + ers to WINDOW structures to ensure they are not null. The main reason + for providing this behavior is to guard against programmer error. The + standard interface does not provide a way for the library to tell an application which of several possible errors were detected. Relying on this (or some other) extension will adversely affect the portability of curses applications. - This implementation also contains several extensions: + +
+ Most of the extensions provided by ncurses have not been standardized. + Some have been incorporated into other implementations, such as + PDCurses or NetBSD curses. Here are a few to consider: o The routine has_key is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4. See the curs_getch(3x) manual page for details. - o The routine slk_attr is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in + o The routine slk_attr is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4. See the curs_slk(3x) manual page for details. - o The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mouseinterval, and - wenclose relating to mouse interfacing are not part of XPG4, nor - are they present in SVr4. See the curs_mouse(3x) manual page for + o The routines getmouse, mousemask, ungetmouse, mouseinterval, and + wenclose relating to mouse interfacing are not part of XPG4, nor + are they present in SVr4. See the curs_mouse(3x) manual page for details. - o The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses imple- + o The routine mcprint was not present in any previous curses imple- mentation. See the curs_print(3x) manual page for details. o The routine wresize is not part of XPG4, nor is it present in SVr4. @@ -1308,28 +1317,118 @@ tion programs. See curs_opaque(3x) for the discussion of is_scrol- lok, etc. - o This implementation can be configured to provide rudimentary sup- - port for multi-threaded applications. See curs_threads(3x) for + o This implementation can be configured to provide rudimentary sup- + port for multi-threaded applications. See curs_threads(3x) for details. - o This implementation can also be configured to provide a set of - functions which improve the ability to manage multiple screens. + o This implementation can also be configured to provide a set of + functions which improve the ability to manage multiple screens. See curs_sp_funcs(3x) for details. - In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities cr, - ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding delay bits in the UNIX + +
+ In historic curses versions, delays embedded in the capabilities cr, + ind, cub1, ff and tab activated corresponding delay bits in the UNIX tty driver. In this implementation, all padding is done by sending NUL - bytes. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter- - face to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the package's + bytes. This method is slightly more expensive, but narrows the inter- + face to the UNIX kernel significantly and increases the package's portability correspondingly. -
- The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header files +
+ The header file <curses.h> automatically includes the header files <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>. - If standard output from a ncurses program is re-directed to something - which is not a tty, screen updates will be directed to standard error. + X/Open Curses has more to say, but does not finish the story: + + The inclusion of <curses.h> may make visible all symbols from the + headers <stdio.h>, <term.h>, <termios.h>, and <wchar.h>. + + Here is a more complete story: + + o Starting with BSD curses, all implementations have included + <stdio.h>. + + BSD curses included <curses.h> and <unctrl.h> from an internal + header "curses.ext" ("ext" was a short name for externs). + + BSD curses used <stdio.h> internally (for printw and scanw), but + nothing in <curses.h> itself relied upon <stdio.h>. + + o SVr2 curses added newterm(3x), which relies upon <stdio.h>. That + is, the function prototype uses FILE. + + SVr4 curses added putwin and getwin, which also use <stdio.h>. + + X/Open Curses documents all three of these functions. + + SVr4 curses and X/Open Curses do not require the developer to + include <stdio.h> before including <curses.h>. Both document + curses showing <curses.h> as the only required header. + + As a result, standard <curses.h> will always include <stdio.h>. + + o X/Open Curses is inconsistent with respect to SVr4 regarding <unc- + trl.h>. + + As noted in curs_util(3x), ncurses includes <unctrl.h> from + <curses.h> (like SVr4). + + o X/Open's comments about <term.h> and <termios.h> may refer to HP-UX + and AIX: + + HP-UX curses includes <term.h> from <curses.h> to declare setupterm + in curses.h, but ncurses (and Solaris curses) do not. + + AIX curses includes <term.h> and <termios.h>. Again, ncurses (and + Solaris curses) do not. + + o X/Open says that <curses.h> may include <term.h>, but there is no + requirement that it do that. + + Some programs use functions declared in both <curses.h> and + <term.h>, and must include both headers in the same module. Very + old versions of AIX curses required including <curses.h> before + including <term.h>. + + Because ncurses header files include the headers needed to define + datatypes used in the headers, ncurses header files can be included + in any order. But for portability, you should include <curses.h> + before <term.h>. + + o X/Open Curses says "may make visible" because including a header + file does not necessarily make all symbols in it visible (there are + ifdef's to consider). + + For instance, in ncurses <wchar.h> may be included if the proper + symbol is defined, and if ncurses is configured for wide-character + support. If the header is included, its symbols may be made visi- + ble. That depends on the value used for _XOPEN_SOURCE feature test + macro. + + o X/Open Curses documents one required header, in a special case: + <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> to prototype the vw_printw and + vw_scanw functions (as well as the obsolete the vwprintw and vws- + canw functions). Each of those uses a va_list parameter. + + The two obsolete functions were introduced in SVr3. The other + functions were introduced in X/Open Curses. In between, SVr4 + curses provided for the possibility that an application might + include either <varargs.h> or <stdarg.h>. Initially, that was done + by using void* for the va_list parameter. Later, a special type + (defined in <stdio.h>) was introduced, to allow for compiler type- + checking. That special type is always available, because <stdio.h> + is always included by <curses.h>. + + None of the X/Open Curses implementations require an application to + include <stdarg.h> before <curses.h> because they either have + allowed for a special type, or (like ncurses) include <stdarg.h> + directly to provide a portable interface. + + +
+ If standard output from a ncurses program is re-directed to something + which is not a tty, screen updates will be directed to standard error. This was an undocumented feature of AT&T System V Release 3 curses. @@ -1384,7 +1483,14 @@